Amid evidence that intelligence services had conspiracy concerns, Labor is using a humble address in the House of Commons to force the documents to be leaked. It was expected to fail as the government opposed the disclosure of the information and ordered Tory MPs to vote against it. However, a group of conservative supporters threatened to revolt against the government, saying it was reminiscent of the Owen Patterson disaster when it was ordered to support a change in standards that was politically unpopular and doomed to failure. Faced with an uprising, the Tories whips staged a dramatic reversal and told lawmakers they would be allowed to abstain. One rebel estimated that there were 50 people who were prepared to abstain from the whips they were originally told to vote against. They said in the aftermath of the Paterson scandal, pressure would be put on the government over standards issues. “Next time, I’re not going to tell the whips that I will not vote with the government – they must learn to stop making these stupid decisions and be forced to turn around. “We are just lucky that this time it was a quick win,” said a Tory back-banker. The Labor movement was led by Angela Reiner, the party’s deputy leader, who will use a debate in the Commons on Tuesday afternoon to demand information on the appointment of Lord Lebedev by the Council of Ministers. The Guardian revealed in October 2020 that Johnson met with Lebedev in March of that year, shortly before the House of Lords Appointments Committee, which is scrutinizing all nominations, wrote to the prime minister. The commission is said to have expressed concern about Lebedev’s proposed conspiracy and called on Downing Street to reconsider. Colleagues on the commission are said to have received confidential information from the UK security services, who suggested the appointment was a potential security risk because of Lebedev’s father, Alexander Lebedev, a former KGB agent who worked secretly at the Soviet embassy in London. . Downing Street then reportedly sought further reassurances from security services. They provided an extra frame, which was enough to lead to a different result, and the peers signed the appointment. Johnson denied that he had intervened to secure a conspiracy, and Lebedev said after further reports in the Sunday Times that he was not an “agent of Russia.” Johnson’s former chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, said he was in the room when Cabinet officials told Johnson that intelligence services and other parts of the deep state had “serious reservations about the prime minister’s plan.” He said the prime minister had stopped talking to him about the matter and “took a boat to enter the labyrinth of the Council of Ministers and conclude an agreement”. Rayner will ask the cabinet office to provide all the information about the appointment, but the wording of the address allows some sections to be corrected if there are national security issues. “This is an important national security issue,” Reiner said before the debate. “The British public has a right to know if and how Boris Johnson gave a seat in the heart of our parliament to someone who is apparently concerned about our intelligence services, despite security advice.” Responding to the Labor Party proposal, Lebedev wrote on Twitter: “Transparency and transparency are pillars of our democratic system, which is why I welcome the call for security advice about me provided to HOLAC to be released. I have nothing to hide.” He has previously stated that he “does not pose a threat to the security of this country, which I love,” and recently issued a statement through one of the newspapers he owns, the Evening Standard, in which he dismissed “farcical” allegations of Russophobia. He said some of the “incredible questions” journalists posed to him were absurd as he denied being a “Russian agent”. He also condemned the invasion of Ukraine and called on Vladimir Putin to withdraw his troops. Responding to the Labor Party proposal, Lebedev wrote on Twitter: “Transparency and transparency are pillars of our democratic system, which is why I welcome the call for security advice about me provided to HOLAC to be released. I have nothing to hide.”
